Shreveport, Louisiana

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Shreveport is located in the northwest corner of the modern-day US state of Louisiana. The city is considered the commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region. The Ark-La-Tex region, of course, is the place where the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. The indigenous Caddo Indians lived in this area up until 1835, when they sold the land to the Shreve Town Company. The city of Shreveport was founded a year later with the aim of becoming a meeting point of the Red River and the Texas Trail. The United States Army Corps of Engineers was led by Captain Henry Miller Shreve. The Shreve expedition cleared the Red River and made it newly navigable. The company and village were naturally named after Captain Shreve. The city of Shreveport was officially incorporated on March 20th, 1839.

Today, according to a 2015 estimate by the US census bureau, the city of Shreveport, Louisiana has a total population of 197,204 people. This makes it the third most populous city in the state and the 120th most populous city in the country. Shreveport’s metropolitan area, according to a census bureau estimate, has a total population of 443,708 people. This makes it the 119th most populous metropolitan area in the United States.

Shreveport’s City 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report claimed the area’s top employer is Barksdale Air Force Base. This military institution is responsible for 10,284 jobs. Barksdale Air Force Base, which was built in 1931, garrisons the 2nd Bomb Wing and is part of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).

The most notable aspect of the Shreveport economy these days, however, is the TV & Film industries. In fact, due to tax incentives offered by the state of Louisiana, the area contains the third largest film industry in the US, after California and New York. Louisiana is often referred to as “Hollywood South.”

In Shreveport alone, there are sound stages, prop facilities, the Fairgrounds Complex, and the Louisiana Wave Studio, which is a computer-controlled outdoor wave pool. Shreveport has served as the shooting location for films such as The Guardian, Factory Girl, The Great Debaters, Mr. Brooks, Premonition, The Mist, Year One, W., Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Super, Straw Dogs, Drive Angry, Battle: Los Angeles, The Iceman, Olympus Has Fallen, and I Saw the Light. Two TV shows have filmed in the area as well: The Gates and Salem.

Elsewhere in the area of Shreveport, Louisiana is Chimp Haven, or the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Opened in 2005, this non-profit provides a home for a little under 200 chimpanzees retired from laboratory research, formerly kept as pets, and used in entertainment. These creatures are allowed to freely roam the Sanctuary’s 200 acres, located within Eddie D. Jones Nature Park.

A.C. Steere School, which was expanded in 1938, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Perhaps more interesting, however, is the story of Pine Wold House, designed by the famed Edward F. Neild in 1903. “For a time the Mighty Haag Circus wintered on the grounds, and the circus elephant Trilby is buried there.”

Shreveport, Louisiana is currently home to one professional sports franchise. As of 2016, North American Hockey League’s Shreveport Mudbugs play their home games at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum. Shreveport has seen a plethora of other professional sports franchises, but many of them are now defunct.

Do you, by any chance, own a small business in the Shreveport, Louisiana area? Are you considering starting up one? These resources could prove useful in the execution of such an endeavor: